You are paying way too much - although I guess that goes with Macs. For reference, I got a 10,000 RPM WD Raptor for my PC for about the £100...

The RPMs make a huge difference, especially if you're using the disk for swapping. 10-20% performance boost doesn't sound like a lot, but think how much time you spend each day waiting for swapping, opening and writing files, and cut that by a fifth, and you have an idea. Then again, the price differential is outrageous, so it's a tough call.

It's a ton - less than the cost of a half decent night out with the missus. I could understand the agonies if it were a grand, but a ton? If you really want to save cash don't buy the mac, buy a PC laptop.

And if you don't think you need the extra 40GB, just wait until you start running out of disc. I long ago chewed up all the disc space on my MacBook Pro and now have to carry external disk drives when I travel with it. I've largely stopped travelling to the US and now only go there when I can't avoid it, but if you'd been caught up in the customs queues behind me while I tried to explain patiently to a trogolodytic official what these external disks were, you wouldn't find it funny.

Faster and more RAM is more important than disk speed - even in heavy read/write operations a decent amount of RAM will buffer the data and you'll not notice the difference in disk speed in normal operation.

Faster and more RAM is more important than disk speed - even in heavy read/write operations a decent amount of RAM will buffer the data and you'll not notice the difference in disk speed in normal operation.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=134071\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Excellent point about the RAM, which I neglected to mention. When building a system - as much as that's possible with a Mac or a PC laptop - one should always look for most bang for the buck. And (fast) RAM is definitely more bang for the buck than any HDD space for photography use.

Excellent point about the RAM, which I neglected to mention. When building a system - as much as that's possible with a Mac or a PC laptop - one should always look for most bang for the buck. And (fast) RAM is definitely more bang for the buck than any HDD space for photography use.[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Read [a href=\"http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac_and_Mac_mini_memory_performance_testing/]this test[/url] about how RAM can affect performance. It's about iMacs but MacBook Pros should enjoy similar performances.Here is another article with benchmarks about installing an Hitachi 7200rpm 200GB drive in a MacBook Pro (here). And finally, some benchmarks about a 250GB in a MacBook Pro - in French - (here).

It's a ton - less than the cost of a half decent night out with the missus. I could understand the agonies if it were a grand, but a ton? If you really want to save cash don't buy the mac, buy a PC laptop.

And if you don't think you need the extra 40GB, just wait until you start running out of disc. I long ago chewed up all the disc space on my MacBook Pro and now have to carry external disk drives when I travel with it. I've largely stopped travelling to the US and now only go there when I can't avoid it, but if you'd been caught up in the customs queues behind me while I tried to explain patiently to a trogolodytic official what these external disks were, you wouldn't find it funny.

Faster and more RAM is more important than disk speed - even in heavy read/write operations a decent amount of RAM will buffer the data and you'll not notice the difference in disk speed in normal operation.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=134071\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I wasn't agonising - just wondering if the money could be better spent (on half a good night out, for example).

I agree about the RAM, of course: but I'm certainly not about to pay Apple's price for it (4GB v 2GB adds £440!).

Thanks for all the responses, anyway. I stuck with the 160GB 5400. I've just spent the afternoon setting it up: it's a hell of a lot faster than my PowerBook G4!